Is the Narendra Modi Boycott Over?

British High Commissioner James Bevan's meeting with Narendra Modi begs us to ask the question "Is the Narendra Modi boycott over?"

The United Kingdom ended its 10 year cold shoulder treatment of the Gujarat Chief Minister with its high commissioner in India, James Bevan meeting Modi for the first time after the 2002 Godhra riots. Though both parties have refused to paint the meeting in a political colour, pundits are seeing the meet as a sign of the west warming upto Modi. This begs us to ask the question-"Is the Narendra Modi boycott over?"

The Godhra riots have been an albatross around Modi's neck since 2002. Although he hasn't been directly implicated in the court of law, many Indians, especially Muslims and western countries, held Modi directly responsible for the violence and subsequent deaths.

His failure to check the violence and allegations of encouraging communal hatred had led to his boycott by prominent countries like the U.S and U.K. Modi himself has always denied his involvement and steadfastly refused to aplogise to the riot victims.

After the meeting James Bevan said, "The engagement was always there. We now look forward to increased ties.As we improve ties with India, we cannot ignore Gujarat."

WATCH:UK envoy meets Narendra Modi

Without doubt the emergence of Gujarat as an economic power centre within India has helped increase Modi's stature as an influential political leader, which even the West cannot afford to ignore.

In 2003, Modi’s visit to U.K led to widespread protests. His plans to visit again in 2005 later were called off after human rights groups in Britain threatened they would seek his arrest. In the same year, Modi applied for but was denied a diplomatic visa by the U.S.And TIME magazine's cover story on Modi earlier this year drew flak from critics.

But its 2012 now. Pundits say Modi is poised to regain the reins of Gujarat in the state polls coming up in December. But more importantly, Modi is widely seen as the top candidate of BJP for the 2014 Parliamentary elections.He has been endorsed by political leaders for the bigger role and the 2014 election race seems to be shaping up as a Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi duel.

Bevan also insisted there was no symbolic message in his visit just ahead of the assembly polls. "I don't think a British high commissioner spending time in Ahmedabad is going to affect elections," he said.

Perhaps no. Modi has ensured enough economic development of Gujarat to ensure another term as the Chief Minister. But the resumption of ties by the western countries is sure to boost his candidature for the PM's post, come 2014.

Modi has long battled with the image of a hard lined Hindu extremist, which many believe is one of the major hurdles in his way to the PM's post. But will this diplomatic endorsement lead to a broader acceptance of Modi by the common man? Only time will tell.